Soundtrack

The first clip is from 'Kill Bill Volume 1' which features a whistling tune and is an inter-textual reference to the second clip, 'Twisted Nerve'.

'Twisted Nerve' is a film based on a man called Martin who retreats into an alternate personality of a six year old called Georgie. He befriends Susan Harper and then friendship turns into a obsession, seeing Susan distancing herself, causing Georgie to embark on a killing spree with Susan as one of his targets.

This psychotic individual then resembles the female character in 'Kill Bill'. They both use a slow-paced walk to suggest their detachment from emotion due to not panicking or rushing. They are staying calm and showing no empathy and compassion which is why the whistling tune is much more effective than a soundtrack that would have already hinted to the audience something is going to happen due to the change in pace. The whistling tune stays the same tempo which adds more suspense by making the next move more unexpected which appears more chilling and cold.

The costume is also key in these two clips as the female character is wearing an eye-patch which adds mystery and suggests a life of danger where an incident occurred, causing her to lose her eye. Other characters in different films who wear an eye-patch are Snake Plissken from 'Escape from New York' and 'Escape from L.A.' whose best friend is war buddy Bill. This is similar to the female character as she is loyal to the character Bill in 'Kill Bill'. Both characters where an eye-patch due to a life of crime and danger which is linked to breaking the law in some form. The associations therefore imply to the audience that they are the villainous characters.

Georgie in 'Twisted Nerve' however wears casual clothes that disguises himself amongst others so as to not stand out. This then makes the villain more unexpected as clothing is a key visual part that hints to the audience of their life. Therefore the soundtrack of whistling helps for the audience to understand who he is by making it simple but creepy to suggest his psychotic tendencies.

For my Thriller, my group and I discussed a soundtrack and felt whistling is a simple but scary way to create a chilling atmosphere. A song for a soundtrack would lose that atmosphere that creates suspense and therefore whistling would be subtle but tense. It would begin from earlier on in the opening but would then be revealed that the murderer is actually the one whistling, much like these two characters in both clips. This would be revealed nearer the end of the opening. This would then be an example of a sound-bridge which can be seen in films such as 'Once upon a time in America'. This then links two scenes together, providing a story that the audience can understand.